Antibiotic Bans Ignored by Pig Farmers

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Monday, 01 September 2003

Pig farmers are ignoring European bans and potential risks to human health by increasing their use of antibiotics to force animals to grow unnaturally quickly, organic farmers allege.

The industry has more than doubled its use of the drugs since 1998, with breeders allegedly using a loophole which allows them to dose animals with antibiotics if the drugs are prescribed by a vet.......

...."There is evidence that antibiotics used in pig feed can make it more difficult to treat the hospital superbug VRE," said the Soil Association.

Source: Charles Arthur, The Independent For full story go to: http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/environment/story.jsp?story=439052